City of Longmont: $599,798 toward restoration of the St. Vrain Greenway trail and repairs along Lefthand Creek.

Town of Jamestown: $117,635 to re-establish the Jamestown Town Square and perform erosion control measures at Elysian Park.

City of Louisville: $65,911 to reconstruct the Coal Creek Regional Trail.

Estes Valley Park and Recreation District: $443,558 to restore sections of the Fish Creek Trail that connects Estes Park with Rocky Mountain National Park trails, to realign other segments of that trail system, and to repair the Homer Rouse Trail.

Larimer County: $84,300 to assess the Big Thompson Canyon's post-flood conditions to guide future development and conservation plans, and to complete road and trail repairs throughout the Hermit Park Open Space.

City of Loveland: $251,543 for restoration of the Big Thompson River's Edge Natural Area and Recreational Trail.

City of Evans: $180,250 to repair or reconstruct several trail segments in Riverside Park and to hire a consultant to develop a plan for the park's future restoration.

City of Fort Morgan: $505,650 to rebuild ball fields in Riverside Park

City of Lakewood: $86,000 to stabilize the banks and stream channel running through Bear Creek Lake Park.

City of Colorado Springs:$98,520 to clear debris in Harlan Wolfe Park and replace a flood-damaged century-old structure with a new outdoor classroom and pavilion.

Great Outdoors Colorado is awarding Lyons $1 million to help pay for restoration of flood-ravaged Meadow Park to a usable condition in time for the community's summer activities.

Longmont will get a $599,798 GOCO grant to help pay for restoring 3.5 miles of trail along the St. Vrain Greenway as well as to help fund repairs to the city's Lefthand Creek trail.

Another grant, for $720,000, will help Boulder County repair flood damages at Pella Crossing Natural Park and segments of its Longmont to Boulder and Boulder Canyon trails.

Jamestown is getting $117,635 to re-establish its Town Square center with tables, creekside seating, fencing and vegetation and to perform erosion control measures at Elysian Park.

Those were among about $4.5 million in emergency flood recovery grants noted in a news conference with Gov. John Hickenlooper in Lyons on Wednesday.

"Thanks to these GOCO funds that will support mostly volunteer-based flood recovery projects, we can build back better, stronger and more sustainable access to our most treasured Colorado locations," Hickenlooper said.

Wednesday's news conference was held in Lyons' Meadow Park, which has been closed since the flood but may be at least partially reopened by mid-June thanks to the GOCO grant and other flood-recovery assistance sources.

The $4.5 million in GOCO grants will go to help cover the costs of 14 flood recovery projects in Boulder, Larimer, Weld, Jefferson, Morgan and El Paso counties to restore damaged or destroyed parks, trails and open spaces. The state agency is keeping about $500,000 more in a contingency fund in case it's turned out to be needed by the grant recipients.

GOCO Executive Director Lise Aangeenbrug said that the agency's grants "will help communities get started on restoring popular parks or trails or start the planning process to figure out how best to rebuild."

"In some cases, reopening damaged parks quickly is vital to a community's economic recovery," she said.

O'Brien said the GOCO grant "will allow us to get started" on restoring Meadow Park, which he said "will be one of the few green oases in our community this year."

City manager Harold Dominguez said Longmont appreciates the size and timing of the grant.

Longmont officials have estimated the floods had about a $19.7 million impact on its greenway trails, neighborhood parks and district parks, and Dominguez said the grant "will have a huge impact for the community."

The grant money comes from the portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds the agency gets for helping preserve and enhance parks, wildlife habitat, rivers and open spaces.

State officials also announced Wednesday that $8 million in spending is planned for a partnership between Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado Department of Transportation to fund construction of a trail corridor to allow safer travel between Lyons and Estes Park.

Wednesday's news conference also featured the announcement of commitments of more than $100,000 in private funds for smaller grants and assistance to help flood-impacted communities restore their outdoor recreation facilities, parks and trails.

The Oskar Blues CAN'd Aid Foundation, in a partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and South Creek Limited, is presenting Lyons with $31,875 that will be earmarked for a "Fishing is Fun" grant and used as local matching funds for a larger $100,000 Parks and Wildlife grant for St. Vrain River restoration.

The Fund to Restore Colorado's Trails, Waterways and Parks — a fund launched by Active Boulder and supported by private industry, foundation and individual donors — announced $67,000 in funding to help organize and support 20 volunteer-based and youth corps flood recovery projects. Most of those projects are expected to focus on restoring damaged trails but also are to include wildlife habitat restoration, in efforts that may mobilize nearly 900 volunteers.

Officials said that 11 of the 14 GOCO flood recovery grant recipients plan to use youth corps members or volunteers to help carry out their projects.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper spoke in Lyons on Wednesday. Great Outdoors Colorado announced $5 million in grants to Colorado communities for parks, trails and open space improvements. Lyons was awarded $1 million. (Lewis Geyer/Longmont Times-Call)